One of the positive takeaways from the late 4-1 dusting Bob Bradley’s men received against Argentina is that the relatively inexperienced U.S. midfield held its own for 65 minutes against one of the world’s best. The U.S. plays Paraguay Monday, which cannot boast the same midfield pedigree as Argentina although it looked deadly sharp against Colombia three days ago, supplying Roque Santa Cruz with three goals in en route to a 5-0 drubbing.
ESPN Soccernet’s Jeff Carlisle points out that Paraguay’s resounding victory was strange in that it adopted a similar bait-and-counter approach the U.S. deployed against Argentina, although it was Santa Cruz who made all the difference. Looking as fresh as any player who spent most of last season on the sideline, the Bayern Munich striker tore apart Colombia’s back-line — Inter Milan’s Ivan Cordoba in particular — with three world-class finishes.
The 25-year-old Santa Cruz poses a huge threat for the likes of Jimmy Conrad and Jay DeMerit. He’s fast, good in the air, strong on the ball and quick with his feet for a tall man. In fact, it was his pace and guile that undid Colombia’s defense in the first game; he scored two goals in a not dissimilar fashion to Argentina’s fourth against the U.S., in which Carlos Tevez slipped in behind Jonathan Bornstein. To offset the threat of Paraguay’s counterattack, the U.S. will have to keep better possession than it did against Argentina. That requires Benny Feilhaber and Ricardo Clark in the center performing more like they did against Mexico in the Gold Cup final.